This invention relates to an apparatus for detecting the presence of goods on the bottom rack of a shopping cart in order to provide an alarm condition on detection of such goods for the purposes of preventing such goods inadvertently passing a store check stand without being checked for payment. While the present invention is described in relation to use in a store with shopping carts, it will be appreciated that use in other situations is also possible within the scope of the invention for example in warehousing or the like.
Supermarkets and other stores are generally now set out with a row of check stands so that between each check stand and the next adjacent check stand is an alleyway through which the customers can pass pushing a shopping cart which has been used to carry their goods to the check stand and is then used to carry the goods away from the check stand.
In order to reduce staffing levels, such stores generally require that the customer place the goods onto the check stand for checking for payment and then the customer pushes the emptied shopping cart through the alleyway for collection of the goods after checking.
Such shopping carts generally include a pair of parallel horizontal bottom rails spaced apart the width of the shopping cart with four ground wheels located underneath the bottom rails. A pair of posts stand up from the bottom rails and support a large top rack for receiving the majority of the goods selected by the shopper. Most shopping carts also include a bottom rack between the bottom rails for receiving additional goods often of a larger or bulky nature.
In the busy store situation, it is possible that the customer forgets to place onto the check stand those goods on the bottom rack and the cashier may in some cases not notice such goods. This possibility is sufficiently common to constitute a significant loss of revenue for the stores.